Karen Mohr, acting chief academic officer for the school system, sent a letter to all principals advising them on how to handle the test scores.

“After careful review of the first quarter Language Arts and Math EQT (end of quarter test) results, the Chief Academic Officer of the Mobile County Public Schools has determined that scores are substantially lower and will negatively impact the first quarter averages for students,” the letter said.

“This decision only addresses first quarter scores,” the letter said. “In subsequent quarters, EQT scores will be handled according to the usual system guidelines.”

If a student’s test score improved his average, it was OK to use it, the letter said. But if adding the score lowered the student’s first quarter average, the test score should not be counted.

“We wanted to make sure we gave students the benefit of the doubt,” Mohr said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to be as fair as possible to our students.”

Mohr explained that the drop in test scores came about because of new standards implemented this fall. “Our curriculum is based on the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards,” she said, “and they’re more rigorous than in the past. With the change, we’re in a transition right now.”

The College and Career Ready Standards are also known as the Common Core, the education standards in math and English that were adopted by the state board of education in 2010.

Could Common Core advocates possibly be open to the possibility that test scores are dropping because of the way math is being taught? Perhaps students are confused? Perhaps they are frustrated? I understand that transitions to new ways of doing things can impact test scores, but it’s simply too easy to excuse the drops as a result of the “rigor” of the standards when another explanation could be is that they are convoluted and lack common sense when translated at the classroom level.

Comments

It’s due to the way math is being taught. We use Investigations. It’s ridiculous, and my fourth graders are so lost. They lack basic skills. I’m instructed to “move on” and advance our progress in the pacing guide, regardless of my natural teacher inclination to meet my students where they are NOW!

Every child has 1 chance at a K-12 education. It is bordering on immoral to me that we are willing to experiment with and potentially sacrifice the future educational potential of x amount of American children so that a few people in elected office can pay their political supporters millions and millions of dollars to rewrite curriculum and create tests to reflect that rewritten curriculum; then make money off of curriculum that has copyrights and mandated testing from all of the local school districts.

Yes, I talking about you David Coleman. Now as President of the College Board and rewriting the SATs, will the damage that you cause to American public education fill books in the future?

Is this all because the Governor of Vermont, Jim Douglas, was President of the National Governors Association in 2009 when the NGA hired you and your college friend to write the “Common Core” curriculum for all of America? The college friend who also happened to work at the college in Vermont, Bennington College, where your mom was President?

Please say it isn’t so…. please say that our beloved community public education system, American public schools, is not just being used as a political playground for a few elected officials. Our public schools are a cornerstone of our democracy in my opinion. We must do what is right for our children, not what makes people money. The arrogance of entrenched power…. is that what is driving the Common Core?

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Campbell’s Law

"The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor."